Cappadocia in central Turkey, is a steppe region might be easy to think that the arid and remote – even if less than 200 miles (300 kilometers) from the Turkish capital, Ankara. Cappadocia is in the midst of barren brown hills as far as the eye can see, and it has nothing to jittery markets and mosques of Istanbul. But do not let deter place – the allure of Cappadocia lies beneath the surface, in their ancient underground cities and churches carved into the stone towers and cliffs.

Thousands of people lived in the underground cities of Cappadocia, where a large number of underground tunnels, rooms, corridors and stairways link visitors to remote sections of civilization.

Two of the underground city, and Kaymakli Derinkuyu, was dug up to eight levels deep, and is open to visitors today. With a little fantasy you can imagine the culture which, when continued here. Rooms, kitchen, stables, shops, churches and cemeteries were Bustled with shafts of activities and storage, large enough to hold month long supply of grain was stored.

Corridors and steep staircases winding up to pass through a maze of tunnels and rooms, and large stone disks could be rolled into place to block the passages in the case of an attack. Today, the passages are lit by bare bulbs on the walls, and the voices of tourists echoed through the surrounding vacant. The person who goes before you can turn a corner and look to the floors above or below a few seconds later, then go to your side of a different passage. The sounds seem to come from afar can be just around the corner, and sounds that only thinks in turn can come from hundreds of meters away.